Carpe Diem: Young Americans: Luckiest Generation in History
... In 1952, the minimum wage was $0.75 per hour (equivalent to $6.39 in today's dollars), and a full-time summer job at 40 hours per week for 12 weeks would have generated $360 in total summer earnings (ignoring taxes). Using retail prices from a 1952 Sears Christmas Catalog, I found that a teenager then would have only been able to purchase the following 3 items with his or her entire pre-tax summer earnings of $360 working at the minimum wage (with $15 borrowed from the parents to cover the full $375 cost):
Royal Deluxe Portable Typewriter $120
Silvertone Portable Phonograph $65
Silvertone 17-inch TV $190
Total $375
Now compare that to the items in the table below that could be purchased by a teenager or college student this year with his or her summer earnings of $3,480 (ignoring taxes) at the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour: (Go to the link to see the full list)
Dell Inspiron Laptop $450
Apple iPod Touch $210
Apple iPhone 4G $200
Garmin GPS $100
Canon 14.1 Megapixel Digital Camera $120 ...
... De'Longhi EC702 Espresso Machine $150
Kindle $114
Apple iPad $500
Total $3,480
